Hi Sarah, I am in the same boat as you, but I was one of those who went to grad school because the economy was tanking when I was graduating and now I have to find a job in an ocean of unemployed. I know what I would like to do but searching for this job is very complicated by the same problem you are faced with - there can be dozens of names for the same basic job. But if you find a job called 'research' or 'field' technician, which is very common, it could be any of hundreds of jobs descriptions. I have to believe that persistence and patience will pay off, and 10 hours a day online, of course.
Here's to hoping! Good luck, Rose Grinnan Unemployed botanist On Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 1:29 PM, Sarah Fann <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear fellow scientists, > > I hope the more experienced scientists on the listserv can help me and my > fellow recent graduates. > > The job market for a recent graduate in biology is ... daunting, to say the > least. Some of my peers simply went to graduate school because "they had > nothing else to do" and hoped it would give them a competitive edge. I took > a different route, as I am very reluctant to invest in a graduate degree > unless I am very sure I want a career in that field. So, like many of my > peers, I searched for low level jobs to "get a feel" for what type of > science interests me the most. This search has been needlessly complicated > by what I like to call the "name game." People keep coming up with more and > more innovative names for a job to make it sound so much more exciting than > it really is. That makes searching for a low level science job very > difficult. For example, a recent job advertisement boasted that you needed > little to no experience, and was titled "Environmental engineering > assistant." When I followed up on this (it was under the > "science/engineering category of a job site)", I discovered it was actually > for a housekeeper. Searching for "internships" usually returns jobs for > students still in undergraduate, although not always. > > So I ask everyone here, what would you name a position for a young > scientist, with only a B.S. degree and little experience? It can be field > specific or not. Where would you advertise and post these jobs? > > The more the merrier; as I am sure I am not the only recent graduate > struggling with that "next step" decision. If you respond to me, I will > compile a list and post on the server so others can benefit. > > Kind Regards, > > Sarah Fann > Research Assistant > Marine Environmental Research Institute > www.meriresearch.org >
